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Terran Dominion
The '''Terran Dominion' was created after the fall of the Confederacy at the height of the war between the terrans, the zerg and the protoss from the Sons of Korhal and many other terran factions. It is an empire headed by former Sons of Korhal leader Arcturus Mengsk. Korhal IV is the throne world of the Dominion. History Formation of the Dominion The roots of the Terran Dominion spring from the Rebellion of Korhal, a "terrorist" faction which emerged when the Terran Confederacy put down a rebellion against them on the world of Korhal. The Confederate attempts to weaken the Rebellion backfired when they slew its first leader; Arcturus Mengsk became its new leader and was even more effective. When Mengsk forged an alliance with the Umojan Protectorate, the Confederates destroyed the world of Korhal using nuclear weaponry. Mengsk renamed the Rebellion the Sons of Korhal. The rebel movement fought against the Confederacy, allying themselves with former Confederacy Alpha Squadron leader General Edmund DukeStarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Norad II (in English). 1998. and eventually destroying it using psionic devices to lure the zerg to the Confederate homeworld of Tarsonis.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Big Push (in English). 1998. This action alienated two good-hearted Sons of Korhal officers, Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor. The former was abandoned to the zerg on a space platform over Tarsonis''StarCraft.'' Vivendi Games. Mission: New Gettysburg (in English). 1998. while the latter defected with a rebel movement.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Hammer Falls (in English). 1998. The successful destruction of Tarsonis caused the fall of the Confederacy. Most Confederate survivors joined the Sons of Korhal,Blizzard Entertainment Staff. 2007-11-21. The Story so Far... Part 1: StarCraft. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-11-21. including the remaining Confederate squadrons, which were forcefully conscripted, giving the Dominion military supremacy.Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. The former rebels saved many terran lives, but refused to assist worlds that did not welcome their intervention, as Mengsk remarked that the planet's local government had ultimate authority on that planet. It was during this period that Jim Raynor's Raiders launched a daring raid on the Dylarian Shipyards, hoping to steal enough ships to move far from Mengsk. General Edmund Duke had been sent by Mengsk in the flagship, the Hyperion, in order to prevent the assault, but the Raiders prevailed, stealing the flagship and numerous other vessels. Duke was left behind, alive but tied up. Mengsk's government suffered a defeat before it could even declare itself.Rosenberg, Aaron (June 1, 2006). StarCraft: Queen of Blades. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-7434-7133-4. Mengsk announced that a new government, the Terran Dominion, was necessary to keep watch over the terran worlds asking for help.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: The Inauguration (in English). 1998. He promised victory over the aliens. For the first time, all of the terran colonies within the Koprulu Sector (including Umoja and Moria) were united under one sovereign ruler. A few exceptions, such as Raynor's Raiders and an elite commando squad led by one Samir Duran remained outside its control. The Dominion government became based out of Augustgrad, the capital of the throne world of Korhal IV. The Dominion set up a powerful defense grid on Korhal consisting of battlecruisers, nukes and other deterrents.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Emperor's Fall (in English). 1998. Alpha Squadron Missions During this period Alpha Squadron was sent to the ash world of Char because of psychic visions Emperor Mengsk received from his former lieutenant, Sarah Kerrigan. Alpha Squadron was heavily defeated by the zerg, however, and forced to pull back. It remained at Char, and even attempted to fight protoss visitors on a number of occasions.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Choosing Sides (in English). 1998. The force eventually left the planet. Alpha Squadron was also dispatched to deal with notorious smuggler Alan Schezar and his Scavengers, leading to further mysteries when the Dominion discovered that Schezar could somehow control zerg. The detachment broke away, disobeying orders in order to assist the protoss in putting an end to Schezar's zerg threat, but Schezar escaped.StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Enslavers bonus campaign, mission 2A: "Playing with Fire" (in English). 1998. After the fall of Aiur, Alpha Squadron was dispatched to aid the colonists of Bhekar Ro. The squadron suffered heavy losses fighting over a xel'naga temple against both the protoss and zergMesta, Gabriel (July 1, 2001). StarCraft: Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-671-04149-5. and was cut off from the Dominion for months afterwards. The Brood War The UED Invasion At the beginning of the Brood War, the Terran Dominion came under siege from an expeditionary force from the United Earth Directorate, an invasion force sent by Earth to pacify the Koprulu Sector. The UED Forces started their invasion with a "test" which consisted of observing Dominion troops being slaughtered by zerg which the UED released upon an unsuspecting colony.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: Brood War Intro (in English). 1998. The Dominion world of Braxis was subjected to an unusual protoss attack, which weakened the garrison. The world was later attacked by the UED, which invaded in the wake of the protoss retreat. The UED linked up with Samir Duran, a defector from Alpha Squadron, and his Confederate Resistance Forces. Together they destroyed the main Dominion base at the capital, Boralis,StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: First Strike (in English). 1998. where the UED was able to decrypt the Dominion's datalink and gain access to Mengsk's most guarded files. Confederate Resistance Forces officers Samir Duran and Angelina Emillian used this information to plot an assassination attempt on Arcturus Mengsk while he was visiting Umoja. Mengsk was hampered by Umojan distrust; they demanded he keep his capital ships beyond the outer shipping markers, forcing him to descend in an obsolete gun cutter. The Confederates used a Cassandra scrambler to cut Mengsk's communications off from his armada and local Protectorate defense forces. However, the assault was a failure, in part because Dominion Armada leader Edmund Duke disobeyed Umojan instructions to stay away when communications were cut off. Mengsk learned the term "UED" but did not learn what it stood for.McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 1416-55083-6. The next UED target was The Dylarian Shipyards. There, the UED stole a large number of battlecruisers, then defeated a Dominion counterattack.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Dylarian Shipyards (in English). 1998. The UED impressed most of the remaining Dylarian defense forces into their fleet.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Ruins of Tarsonis (in English). 1998. Finally, the UED cracked Korhal's powerful defenses and conquered it. Arcturus Mengsk escaped due to the surprising assistance of Jim Raynor. Due to Raynor's alliance with Fenix and the backstabbing of Samir Duran, who had originally joined the UED as an ally, the UED failed in its attempts to recapture Mengsk.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Emperor's Flight (in English). 1998. The UED had a hidden agenda as well: to seize the Psi Disrupter (a potent anti-zerg weapon), take control of the second Overmind and use the zerg to pacify all conflict in the region. The UED's Admiral DuGalle successfully captured the Overmind on CharStarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: To Chain the Beast (in English). 1998. and used it to maintain a number of enslaved zerg on Korhal.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Liberation of Korhal (in English). 1998. The Psi Disrupter also weakened Infested Kerrigan's control over her own zerg.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Vile Disruption (in English). 1998. Recovery, and Betrayal Mengsk woke up to find himself at the mercy of Jim Raynor and Infested Kerrigan, both of whom had very personal reasons to hate him, but both feared the UED more than they feared him. They made a deal: if Mengsk would assist Kerrigan in regaining control over her Zerg forces, she would assist him in retaking Korhal.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Reign of Fire (in English). 1998. Kerrigan even convinced Raynor to help her rescue the remains of the Dominion fleet from the UED.Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2008-04-16. The Story so Far... Part 2: The Brood War. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-04-16. The forces struck Braxis, site of the Psi Disrupter. Mengsk's psi-emitter enabled Kerrigan to rebuild her forces and finally destroy the device.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Reign of Fire (in English). 1998. The forces eventually moved against Korhal, with Kerrigan's zerg spear-heading the attack against the UED. Although Arcturus Mengsk succeeded in regaining his throne world, he (along with Raynor and Fenix) were betrayed by Kerrigan and he lost his chief military adviser, General Edmund Duke to Kerrigan's zerg forces. Mengsk swore revenge, but Kerrigan left Korhal.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: True Colors (in English). 1998. Later, Infested Kerrigan found herself in a weakened position on a space platform over Char when the UED, protoss and Dominion launched a simultaneous (but uncoordinated) attack. The Dominion forces were cobbled together with help from "special interest groups" who wanted to see Kerrigan dead. Kerrigan defeated all three forces;StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: Omega (in English). 1998. she allowed the Dominion and protoss to survive,StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: The Ascension (in English). 1998. but took gruesome revenge on the UED.StarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Level/area: Epilogue (in English). 1998. The Dominion had been driven to the brink of annihilation by various UED, zerg, and protoss assaults, but it nevertheless survived. After the Brood War Following the Brood War, the Dominion's military was still weak. It was unable to deal militarily with problems such as the New Trinidad Pirates, eventually resorting to hiring mercenaries to destroy them.1999-03-26. StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Mission: Mercenaries (in English). Map Archives: Mercenaries. StarCraft Compendium Map Archives. Arcturus Mengsk ordered half of his government's ghosts eliminated as part of an "overhaul" of the Ghost Program.Golden, Christie. StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #2: Shadow Hunters. Pocket Star Books, November 27, 2007. ISBN 0-7434-7126-1. Four years later, the Dominion has partially rebuilt its armies and is attempting to re-establish its empire by reconquering worlds.Golden, Christie. StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga #1: Firstborn. Pocket Star Books, May 2007. ISBN 0-7434-7125-3. It ordered the destruction of minor terrorist groupsDeCandido, Keith R. A. (November 28, 2006). StarCraft: Ghost: Nova. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 0-7434-7134-2. and also activated General Horace Warfield's Project Shadow Blade involving ghosts and terrazine and battles the Koprulu Liberation Front, an anti-Dominion organization.2006-02-15. Story. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-01. The most significant military development project since the end of the Brood War is Project: Thor, a (formerly) secret superweapon system.2007-08-30. Thor. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-30. The Dominion became the most powerful terran force in the Koprulu Sector, having taken over many of the former Confederacy's worlds,Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2008-04-16. The Story so Far... Part 2: The Brood War. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-04-16. but is currently opposed by the Umojan Protectorate and Kel-Morian Combine. It fears Infested Kerrigan and her zerg, who have been "too quiet" over the past four years.Metzen, Chris; Chambers, Andy; StarCraft Legacy staff. 2007-08-31. BlizzCon 2007 StarCraft Lore Panel Editorial. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02. Recently, Arcturus Mengsk's son, Valerian, was secretly named the "Heir Apparent" to the Dominion. He commands high authority, but this was limited due to the small number of people who know who he really is. Valerian became interested in an alien artifact on the dead world of Nemaka, and hired an archaeologist, Jake Ramsey, to look in on it. Ramsey discovered a secret there, but, no longer trusting him, fled to the world of Dead Man's Rock, which was outside of Dominion space. The zerg attacked shortly afterward, drawn by Ramsey's discovery. Arcturus Mengsk considered this invasion as an attack on the Terran Dominion. Valerian Mengsk's status later became public.2008-10-13. StarCraft II in-game cinematics. Gameplanet. Accessed 2008-28-15. The zerg have also come into conflict with the Dominion at the vespene gas mining world of Maltair IVBenjamin, Paul, Shramek, Dave and Hector Sevilla. "Weapon of War." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1, pp. 94–139. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. and Mar Sara (where the Dominion has interests)2006-12-18. StarCraft Ghost: BlizzCon 2K5 Cam Cinematic HD. Blizzard Entertainment/Youtube. Accessed 2007-09-01.Knaak, Richard A. and Naohiro Washio. "Thundergod." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1, pp. 48–93. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. while the Dominion engaged in combat with the zerg and the protoss over a xel'naga temple at Artika.Elder, Josh and Ramanda Kamarga. "Why We Fight." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1, pp. 6–47. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. Wings of Liberty The Dominion attempted to recover other alien artifacts from planets such as Mar Sara.Blake Ellison. 2008-10-10. StarCraft 2 Trailers Gather Everyone For Storytime (2nd trailer). Shacknews. Accessed 2008-10-11. The Dominion made trading such alien goods illegal, causing problems for organizations like the Moebius Foundation.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 2). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. A massive zerg attack, personally led by Infested Kerrigan, attacked the Dominion, focusing on the core worlds. The Dominion fleet retreated to protect the primary resource centers, abandoning the Fringe Worlds to their fate. According to numerous media reports, military and civilian casualties alike have already reached the billion mark and live footage showed evidence that Kerrigan is leading the invasion herself.Dustin Browder, Rob Pardo. 2008-10-11. Blizzcon 2008: StarCraft II Gameplay Discussion Panel (Part 3). Youtube.com Accessed 2008-10-11. Government Despite having been founded in the aftermath of a crusade to disband the Confederacy, the Dominion's government differs little from its predecessor. The Dominion is an absolute monarchy with Arcturus Mengsk currently at its head, though this is a fact that he tries not to reinforce. Like the Confederacy, the Dominion maintains a senate of elected planetary representatives and akin to the Old Families, possesses a nobility with great wealth.Knaak, Richard A. and Naohiro Washio. "Thundergod." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1, pp. 48–93. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. Dominion Military Known Terran Dominion Planets Abaddon: The Dominion has a small presence here, but the world is also populated by the Koprulu Liberation Front2005-11-06. Shinigami. BlizzCon Write-Up Warboards. Accessed 2007-07-26. and remnants of the United Earth Directorate fleet.2006-01-13. Wallpaper. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2006-02-09. Braxis Alpha: Industrial planet.Park, Andrew. 2007-05-19. Blizzard talks Starcraft II art design. Gamespot. Its space platforms are used as scrap yards.2008-05-05. StarCraft II Preview. 1Up. Accessed 2008-05-06 Brontes: Former Terran Confederacy core world, invaded by the zerg.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. The Dominion turned the space around the planet into a salvage yard for spare parts; the region is assigned a low priority. Korhal IV: Dominion throne world,StarCraft. Vivendi Games. Cinematic: The Inauguration (in English). 1998. a desert''StarCraft: Brood War.'' Vivendi Games. Mission: Assault on Korhal (in English). 1998. and industrial planet.2008-06-29. Samwise Didier, Dave Bergain. WWI 08 Coverage - StarCraft II Art Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-06-29. Site of the Korhal IV Primary Resocialization Center.Elder, Josh and Ramanda Kamarga. "Why We Fight." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1 (paperback binding), pp. 6–47. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. Halcyon: An agrarian world located between Tarsonis and Antiga Prime. Maltair IV: fringe vespene gas mining planet. Was invaded by the zerg.Benjamin, Paul and Dave Shramek (w), Sevilla, Hector (p, i). "Weapon of War." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1 (paperback binding), pp. 94–139. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. New Sydney: Located far from the Dominion’s center of power. Site of an advanced munitions factory, which had been raided by the Koprulu Liberation Front. New Folsom: This planet is home to New Folsom Prison, a former Confederate penal colony, situated over a volcanic caldera. Torus System: Features the “Ice House” where Reapers are trained.Reaper. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-10. Tyrador VIII: Closely orbits its sister planet Tyrador IX. It possesses ten continents, some of which are sparsely populated. Tyrador IX: Popular tourist destination located some distance from Tarsonis. Settlements include New Canaan. Ursa: Headquarters of the Dominion Ghost Program. Dominion maintains a small military presence for development and training for new weapons such as the Viking.Furman, Simon and Jesse Elliott. "Heavy Armor, part 1." In StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 1 (paperback binding), pp. 140–163. Tokyopop, August 1, 2008. ISBN 1427-80721-3. Former Dominion Planets Agria: Small Fringe World farming colony, attacked by the zerg and abandoned by the Dominion.2008-10-13. StarCraft II expanded campaign. Gameplanet. Accessed 2008-10-16. Braxis: Dominion outlying stronghold. It was attacked by the protossStarCraft: Brood War. Vivendi Games. Mission: The Quest for Uraj (in English). 1998. and was the first target of the UED expeditionary fleet. It was later by the New Swarm and then purified by the protoss after the Brood War.StarCraft 64. Vivendi Games. Mission: Resurrection IV (in English). 2000. Dylar IV: Former protoss colony and Confederate core world, it was the home of Omega Squadron. It was attacked by the zerg early in the Great War. Dylar IV held the famous Dylarian Shipyards, and served as a fueling and repair station for the Dominion Armada. It was attacked by the United Earth Directorate, and later abandoned during the UED invasion of the Koprulu Sector. It was later given back to the protoss.Bill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes (March 1, 2000). Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1618-4 Trivia The Terran Dominion is probably named after Mengsk's former unit in the Confederate Marine Corps unit, part of the 33rd Ground Assault Division, the Dominion section. He chose the name because he thought it was "appropriately grand".McNeill, Graham (December 30, 2008). StarCraft: I, Mengsk. Simon & Schuster (Pocket Star). ISBN 1416-55083-6. References Terran Dominion